B-Side Hip Hop Festival is Back and Bigger Than Ever in 2018

Birmingham Hippodrome is proud to present its free annual festival celebrating all things Hip-Hop from Wed 9 - Sun 13 May 2018. The weekend's activities include a range of exhilarating outdoor performances, pop-up dance events, interactive talks and live graffiti art alongside an explosive programme of high-energy workshops.

In anticipation of the festival, there will be a launch event at The Lighthouse Young People's Centre in March, date to be confirmed, giving you a taste of what's to come. The launch and dance competition will include free workshops in Breakin', Poppin', Graffiti, DJing and Rap/Spoken Word. Keen dancers can sign up for the competition here: https://www.facebook.com/breakmissionuk/*.

Now in its third year, B-SIDE Hip-Hop Festival will take place in the Southside streets and Birmingham Hippodrome, attracting a wide audience of Hip-Hop fans and novices alike from around the world. The popular festival will feature appearances from the best national and international artists plus the city's finest local talents. Headline acts already confirmed include Red BULL BC Champion, Menno Van Gorp and arguably one of the best Poppers in the world Green Tek, with many more to be announced.

As well as the usual programme of events, new to this year's festival, will be a Hip-Hop game show where people can test their Hip-Hop knowledge and compete with friends. There will also be opportunities for budding creatives to learn from the professionals with artist development labs and artist talks and master classes with Hip-Hop PIONEERS such as Henry Link.

B-SIDE Hip-Hop Festival has inspired Hip-Hop themed programmes at Birmingham Hippodrome, such as AeroBreaks, a dance collective of young people from local schools, funded by Sport England. In collaboration with Break Mission and The Lighthouse Young People's Centre, AeroBreaks, a Birmingham Hippodrome Project, offers free break dance classes where young people can explore their interest in Hip-Hop culture with professional artists. Local schools involved with the project include Holte School, Holy Trinity Catholic School and Four Dwellings Academy.

This is a great opportunity for young people to build their confidence on and off the stage. Previous participants have gone onto to perform in professional productions and continue to work with the theatre.

Graham Callister, Associate Director at Birmingham Hippodrome, commented: "We are delighted to once again bring Southside to life through B-SIDE Hip-Hop Festival. Working with some amazing national and international artists, performers and partners, bringing together the Hip-Hop community for a celebration of music, dance and spoken word."

Birmingham Hippodrome partners with festival directors Break Mission, Juice Aleem, Mickael Riviére and GraffitiArtist.com to produce B-SIDE Hip-Hop Festival. The event is supported through funding from Arts Council England, Southside BID and The Arcadian, and sponsored by POSCA.

Stay up-to-date with activities and join the conversation on Twitter using #BSIDE18

Tickets to the free Welcome Jam on Friday 11 May are now available to book herewww.birminghamhippodrome.com/bsidewelcomejam and tickets to Sunday's free dance battle finals are also available to book here: www.birminghamhippodrome.com/bsidefinals

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